With apologies to Harold Ramis (RIP), why does this feel like Groundhog Day? Sadly, this is not a movie... this is real life... or real death, as it were.
Once again, a child is dead, a family is wondering how this could have happened to a "responsible gun owner" and no doubt the usual suspects will point to anything and everything but the (literally) smoking gun... follow me beneath the fold for yet another story you've seen all too often, albeit a particularly egregious version of it.
Dateline: Lake Worth, FL.
The headline:
Gun that killed 3-year-old was left loaded on table, deputies say
No doubt the headline will result in the familiar grind of teeth-gnashing from 2nd amendment advocates over the "implication" that the "gun" killed the 3-year-old girl when clearly the gun did not pull its own trigger, right? Clearly she killed herself, right?
Hello? Is this thing on?
The gun used in an accidental, self-inflicted shooting that killed a 3-year-old girl last month had been left loaded on a table while the child's father got ready for work, deputies say.
Surely there must have been a "reasonable" explanation for a "responsible" gun owner to leave a loaded gun on a table (while otherwise occupied) with children in the house, right?
Chambers, who had a valid concealed weapons permit, told investigators he left the gun out because he didn't want to forget it when he left for work.
(Emphasis mine)
Well there you go! Who can blame him for not wanting to forget his gun before going to work? Something tells me the last thing this guy would "forget" would be his gun... he apparently "forgot" that his little girl had been caught handling the gun before:
Chambers told deputies Zuri had picked up the gun once before, a few months earlier, when it was sitting in a laundry basket.
Completely understandable that one other incident might have slipped his mind, right?
Zuri's mother recalled another incident. That time, she was sleeping and woke up to Zuri pointing a gun at her. She said she yelled at her daughter and quickly took the gun away. Chambers knew about that encounter because he was laying in bed next to her, she said, according to the report.
Well, at least he learned his lesson (albeit a painful lesson), right?
When a deputy walked through the Chambers' house on Feb. 13, he saw a fully loaded Beretta 9 mm semi-automatic pistol in plain view on top of an acoustic amplifier adjacent to a play pen in Chambers' room.
(Again, emphasis mine)
Last month, a family member described Chambers as a responsible gun owner and said he is the "most wonderful father in the world.
And this "responsible" gun owner, the "most wonderful father in the world" apparently felt his daughter was sufficiently protected from his negligence because:
Chambers said he never imagined his daughter was strong enough to pull the trigger on the Kel-Tec 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, which requires 10 pounds of pressure, the report said.
Seems reasonable, right?
So now we have this:
Chambers is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child.
Does anyone familiar with Florida's "liberal" gun laws know whether or not this "responsible" gun owner/"most wonderful father in the world" is still legally in possession of his firearms? Can anyone truthfully say he should be?
I'm curious as to what the "responsible" gun owners in this community have to say about this incident, although sadly, I'm pretty sure I already know...
Cue the crickets...
Rest in peace, little girl...
1:18 PM PT: UPDATE: Forgot to link the article: http://touch.sun-sentinel.com/...